A New Beginning
by The Other Guy
Summary: The unstoppable trainer Slash challenges Giovanni, hoping to be the first to beat the undefeated gym leader. However, he finds that there is more than Giovanni working against him...
1. FaceOff!

Chapter 1: Face-Off!

"Alright, Giovanni! You have finally met your match!"

"Don't be so sure, kid. You seem so determined, but you will not win." An evil smile spread across his face, and he chuckled.

Slash, Ash, Misty, and Gary stood in the Viridian City Gym, facing the shadowy Giovanni. As soon as Slash had read that Giovanni had never been defeated before, he decided to go show him who was boss.

"I think you're the one who shouldn't be so sure, Giovanni. You may find more surprises than just your defeat today." But the Rocket Boss only smiled more broadly.

"Let the match begin. It will be a standard battle. I will choose for my first Pokémon Gyrados."

"Alright, then I choose Venu! Go!" Slash threw the Pokeball straight downward, causing it to bounce back up as a huge Venusaur emerged. "Alright, Venu! Razor Leaf, now!" Venu roared as a whirlwind of leaves busted out of the flower on his back.

"Gyrados, Waterfall!" A huge wall of water blasted out of Gyrados' mouth, shooting straight up and pounding down, blocking all leaves from affecting the Pokémon. "Now, follow up with a Hydro Pump!"

"Alrighty, then! Venu, Giant Leaf attack!" A huge leaf emerged from the flower on the Venusaur's back, covering the Pokémon and deflecting the attack back at Gyrados.

"What the…?!" Giovanni gaped at the unknown attack. "How did you…?"

"Who said you can't teach an old Pokémon new tricks?" Slash smirked. "Watch this one! Venu, Evergreen attack!" Pine cones shot out from Venu's flower, latching on to the flying water Pokémon and burrowing into its tough skin. Roots began to emerge, sucking the life from Gyrados to hasten their growth.

"Gyrados, Dragon Rage! Get rid of those sproutlings!" Gyrados went into a violent rage and the sprouting pine trees fell of like leaves. "Now catch it in a Whirlpool!" A hole emerged in the stadium floor and water poured from Gyrados' mouth and filled up the stadium as a whirlpool began to form.

"Plug the hole!" Venu stepped on the hole, which only caused it to enlarge. He was caught. "Get out! Use Vine Whip to pull yourself out!" The Venusaur grabbed hold of the strong metal rafters, bending them as he dragged himself to safety. The water drained and the hole disappeared.

"Enough of this foolishness!" Giovanni roared, "Gyrados, use Hyper Beam!"

"Counter it, Venu!" A beam shot out of each of the Pokémon's mouth, each meeting in a ball in the middle. The ball of energy grew, and the Pokémon fought to push it into the other. Light from the surge of energy brightened the whole arena, and the two Pokémon struggled to gain control. Slowly, the blast neared Gyrados, and the Pokémon appeared weak. Finally, the Gyrados' strength gave way to the awesome power of Slash's Venusaur, and the creature fainted with a sigh.

But it was never hurt.

Right as Gyrados exerted the last of its energy, Venu blinked out of existence, sending the pulsing ball of energy hurtling into the challenger and his supporters. Ash dove and knocked misty out of the blast, just in time. Gary dropped to the floor and let the mass pass above him. But Slash, frozen at the sight of his Pokémon flashing out of existence, couldn't move in time. The blast hit him full on, engulfing him in an overpowering mass of heat.


	2. The Missing Pokemon

Chapter 2: The Missing Pokémon

"Nooooooo!" Misty cried, the first to realize what had happened. She ran over to Slash, coughing on the dust floating in the air.

"What happened?" Ash jumped up at Misty's alarmed response.

"It hit him!" Misty cried from somewhere in the dust. "The Hyper Beam hit him!"

"Wha?!" Gary's eyes popped wide open at the response, but closed again as dust plastered itself against the exposed eyeballs. "Ow!" He blinked away the dust and got up to help Misty find their friend.

"I'll get rid of this dust!" Ash yelled into the cloud of dust. "Noctowl, Whirlwind attack!" Noctowl popped out of his Pokeball and blew away the dust with a gust of wind from his wings. Now everyone could see clearly.

The Hyper Beam attacks had hit the gym wall, causing it to collapse into a pile of rubble. The ground around was scorched with the energy's heat. Slash lay, charred and unconscious, amongst the rubble. Giovanni was nowhere to be found.

"Slash!" the three friends ran to dig him out from the rubble. He was uncovered and pulled out in seconds.

"Is he… is he okay?" Misty wiped a tear from her face.

"I don't know," Gary knelt down to feel for breathing or a pulse. "I don't feet a pulse…"

"Hurry up, you kids!" Giovanni yelled at the wreckage and the people around it.

"How can you be so heartless!?" Misty exploded in a rage, tears streaming down her face, "Don't you see what you've done?! You may have just killed our friend!"

Giovanni's cheek twitched, but he remained emotionless. "I did nothing. It is his Pokémon who gave out when his trainer needed him."

"Quick, Ash!" Misty turned to the speechless comrade, "Call an ambulance! Giovanni, you're going to pay! I'll make sure of it."

But just as Ash dashed, stumbling with his tear-blurred vision, a voice arose from the rubble.

"No, I'm okay."

"Slash…?" Ash, Misty, and Gary all turned towards their friend. Giovanni stared in surprise and wonder. Misty ran over to him, and almost knocked the disoriented young man as she hugged him, "You're okay!!!" Ash ran back to the trio, staring in slack-jawed wonder.

"Where am I?" Slash looked around, uncomprehending, "Oh, I see," he responded to an unseen person ahead of him, "Alright. Giovanni! I'm ready! For my next Pokémon, I choose Inviso!" He threw a Luckyball, and the blue light that emerged became an ethereal Gengar.

"Well," Giovanni held up his Pokeball, "I'll give you a little break for now. Go, Dragonair!"

"Dragonair!? How sad!" Slash stifled a chuckle, "Alrighty then, Inviso! Let's make this quick! Go ethereal and steal that dragonair's soul!"

"What?!" Ash whipped out his pokedex automatically, only to realize that, knowing Slash, this attack would be unique to the luckyball-powered up pokémon. He watched as Inviso disappeared. Giovanni could make no command, and Dragonair looked around in surprise. They both waited to see Inviso reappear, but, instead, Dragonair suddenly shivered and straightened out, then his eyes glazed over and it fell to the ground.

"What did you do, Slash!?" Misty screamed, looking at the non-moving dragonair.

"It's okay, Misty," Slash replied as Inviso reappeared, "Dragonair will recover. But," Slash made a stopping gesture towards Giovanni, who was getting ready to return his pokémon, "it will only recover if left out in the open for a while. Don't return it just yet."

Giovanni returned his pokéball to his belt, then took out another. This one was dark blue on the top and an obsidian black color on the bottom. Shaking with rage, he threw it down. "Go, Roodemon!!!"

"Roodemon!?" Slash jumped at the name of his own pokémon, "How did you catch him?!"

"Just fight, boy!" Giovanni laughed, a maniacal look upon his face, as a kangaroo-like creature dressed like the Grim Reaper emerged from the pokéball.

"Inviso! Return!" _There's only one pokémon I can think of to defeat Roodemon, _Slash thought, "Go, Rooqueen!" Slash hurled the pokéball with all his might, hoping that his plan would work. _It has to work! My only hope is that Rooqueen will become Rooangel!_

The ball landed with a loud clang and opened. It was empty.

"What?!" Slash pulled out another pokéball and threw it down. It was also empty. Frantic, Slash began taking out one pokéball at a time and throwing them all down. None of them contained any pokémon. And they were disappearing, as well. Slash fell to his knees, confused, worried, and furious. _What is happening? Have I been discovered?_ Slash gaped and held his head, _We're… being… deleted…_

Slash fell to the ground, only to find that the ground had been replace by nothingness. The last thing he heard was, "What are we doing here?"

This is the end of "A New Beginning." Please read "Abandoned Visions" for the rest of the story!


End file.
